Want to Succeed? Don’t Be Typecast

I remember when I heard the announcement last year that my illustrious Governor, Sarah Palin had been chosen as the Vice Presidential candidate for John McCain. My first thought wasn’t, “Coolio!” or “Awesome!” It was, “Holy crap.  Tina Fey has SO got to do a Sarah skit.” How is that for being typecast? Okay, but in a good way. Not so for a lot of others. Some folks do so well in a certain role that it is impossible to envision them as doing anything else. Kinda like trying to take George Castanza from Seinfeld seriously as an alien in a Star Trek movie – it just doesn’t work.

In order to be an outrageously successful freelance writer, it’s important that you don’t let yourself get pigeonholed or typecast as a single kind of writer. It’s easy for us to get into our comfort zones and stay there.  After all, the more we write in a given area, the better we get at it.  Breaking out of the mold can be scary and painful. Just like confronting any of our demons though, the end results and rewards should be worth any pain.

It’s important that you try not to take on too big of a bite at first. If you are writing articles for children’s magazines, maybe it’s not the best plan to venture into porn site reviews. Try branching out into other magazine markets.  Here is where you get the chance to do a bit of research. List any topics or venues that interest you. I mean any. Once you have them identified, consider what kind of freelance writing assignments could be garnered from your interests. Are you an avid sailor? Consider pitching an article to a sailing mag, or maybe a series of book reviews of recent sailing books.

You are only limited by your imagination here. Why not go wild and crazy? Contact the organizations that pay writers for greeting cards. Chat with a local business and offer to write a script for their next radio advert. Check with a few local papers and see if they need anyone for writing restaurant reviews.

Once you have the potential markets identified, work your proposals and start submitting. In a lot of ways it will be just like when you first started writing so it’s okay to head into this with a little trepidation. Just don’t let that stop you.  Remember that now you have the upper hand. You are a writer and you already have some things in your portfolio.  This should bolster your confidence enough to get past most of your nervousness.

The potential payoffs here are tremendous for a freelance writer. You may find a talent that you never knew you had. As well, you are rounding out your portfolio and at some point an editor is going to look at that and decide that you aren’t afraid to take on new challenges, and that you have the skills to deliver most anything that they are looking for.

Are you ready to commit?  What new arena are you going to break into today?

Posted by:  George